Game nearing 'crisis point' in schools, new report warns

The Rugby Football Union has been warned it is facing an existential crisis and has been urged to make radical changes in schools rugby to avoid becoming a "declining minority sport" that could weaken Steve Borthwick's England side amid a damaging decline in participation.

- Gerard Meagher

According to an independently chaired review commissioned by the RFU, "rugby is not winning" in the schools marketplace because of "changing attitudes and values coupled with greater risk aversion in the part of society". The review, entitled Changing the Game, also highlights fears over head injuries and an image problem of a sport for "posh white boys" as reasons behind the decline in participation numbers.

In response the RFU has committed to the rollout over the next four years of a non-contact form of the sport called T1 Rugby, while the review also recommends introducing a third "reduced contact" variant of the game alongside the traditional model to ease parents' fears over injuries and break down perceived barriers to entry into the sport.